Execution Patterns

Execution patterns show how to take care that test execution is easy and reliable. The table below gives a list of the Execution Patterns with a short description. The Execution Patterns Mind Map shows which other patterns are used by the execution patterns.

Pattern	Description
COMPARE WITH PREVIOUS VERSION	Compare the current results with the results got by running the same tests in the previous version of the Software Under Test (SUT).
EASY TO DEBUG FAILURES	Each test failure should make it obvious which test failed, what went wrong. Shouldn't take hours to figure out or require rerun of test.
EXPECT INCIDENTS	Automated scripts should be able to react to unexpected incidents without disrupting execution.
EXPECTED FAIL STATUS	Comparing to an Expected Fail outcome rather than the Expected Result enables automated failure analysis when there is a minor bug affecting all tests.
FAIL GRACEFULLY	If a test fails it should restore the system and the environment so that the successive tests are not affected.
OBJECT MAP	Declare all the GUI-Objects in the Object Map of the test automation tool.
ONE-CLICK RETEST	Retesting a specific test case should be as easy as one mouse click.
PARALLELIZE TESTS	In order to save time, run tests in parallel.
PRIORITIZE TESTS	Assign each test some kind of priority in order to be able to select easily the ones that should be run.
SKIP VOID INPUTS	Arrange for an easy way to automatically skip void inputs.
STEEL THREAD	Test a thin slice of functionality that drives the Software Under Test (SUT) from one end to the other.
UNATTENDED TEST EXECUTION	Automated tests start automatically and run unattended.
VARIABLE DELAYS	Use variable delays based on events, not fixed delays based on elapsed time.
VISUALIZE EXECUTION	When running tests show which test case is currently executing.

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